Long Thompson Unveils Education Plan

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jill Long Thompson says if elected governor, she will make reducing Indiana’s high school dropout rate a top education priority for her administration.She points to a high school dropout rate of around 30 percent as a major indicator that something different has to be done.

Long Thompson proposes lowering the drop out rate by allowing students the option to finish high school in five years.She says she has other education initiatives that include a literacy program that relies on textbook publishers to donate story books monthly to Hoosier children until they reach age five.Long Thompson says she also wants to expand a state funded scholarship for children in low income families to attend college.Governor Mitch Daniels released his education priorities last month.Among those are complete funding for full day kindergarten and leasing the lottery to a private company in exchange for six thousand dollars for each high school graduate to use to help pay for college.